How paradigmadvies built a real estate powerhouse
“I grew up in San Diego, ended up in New York with my wife’s work. Knowed four people here. Our experience was terrible. This was like 2003 or 2004 to buy an apartment. And I thought:” Hey, I can do this better than these guys, “Jovanovic remembered.
Hustis, graduated in Hudson Valley, Ohio, Native and Virginia Tech Finance, came to the city after the recession of 9/11 plans were overlooked to be an investment banker.
The two met, quickly finished and started building a company – one customer at the same time.
“We were just hasty and tried to win,” said Jovanovic. “My wife worked on advice 100 hours a week. So Scott and I worked 100 hours a week, and we just built our company a bit.”
Their early acceptance of data analysis and financial modeling was at that time in stark contrast to the industrial stand.
“We can use data and information, model and [produce] Excel spreadsheets and turntables when all the people in the company could not do that, “said Jovanovic.” So we reached that younger banker, finance, lawyers, money managers. They were from: ‘Wow, that’s what it should be. It should be a profession. ” ‘
Founding roles at Compass
After almost a decade with The Corcoran groupHustis and Jovanovic made a daring move. In 2014 they became founders at the then compass.
“When we decided to leave Corcoran and switch to what was then Stedelijk Kompas, the whole concept that if we do a professional service, we really have to be paid for not just a deal, but also advising on deals,” Jovanovic said.
At the time there were fewer than 50 people at the company.
“In New York City there were about five (founders),” said Hustis. “We helped the technical team to build the entire technical pile. Nobody had built a platform to walk through a company, and that is ultimately what a brokerage is.”
A few years ago, the team renamed paradigm advice to stand apart in a growing organization.
“We realized that Compass is growing that way, and it would be one of the top brokers at national level that so many agents would like to be,” said Hustis. “We wanted to rebranding ourselves because we wanted a brand within the brand.
“We now have nine other team members – from operations to marketing to sellers – and they are great.”
Compass remains an essential part of their identity. “We are very close to (Compass CEO Robert Reffkin) and leadership here,” Hustis added. “We know the top leaders in every market.”
Advisors, not only brokers
The founders emphasized the importance of putting customers first, even if it were easy to go in a different direction.
“We look at each individual customer – whether it is a buyer or seller – such as a project. And it is as a project management where you have the rough section and split off what is needed to finish this person,” Jovanovic said. “Our entire company is based on references. We are not emailing buildings. We do not register for Zillow or one of those leads. It has simply built organically over time.”
Hustis echoed the sentiment. “Do what is good for the customer – even if it is not good for us at that time – is the key,” he said.
Their advice to other agents? Think in the long term and trade with integrity.
“It’s always the first day. That’s a quote from Bezos,” said Jovanovic. “You have to be there every day – to serve your people, to get better, to understand where technology brings you to. It is understanding that you have to hire someone, or you need technology to solve that problem.
Navigating through a changing market
Despite a volatile market in recent years, the paradigm advice remains stable.
They posted in 2024 $ 178.62 million in volume -To the bottom of pre-Pandemic highlights, but far from the industry-wide cliff that some have experienced.
“A few years earlier we were in the low to middle of two hundred, so we fell down like everyone else, but we didn’t fall into a cliff like many people,” Hustis said. There are also many great, successful agents we are looking at.
“In the 2020 rankings in our category for medium-sized teams, there [are] Only two teams in the Top-75 for the whole of New York, where traditional 10 plus can be. We were closed for many months and were not allowed to work by law during Covid. And when the first three months later it was pretty dead. “
Hustis said that continuous perseverance in those first months after the Down-Mendar eventually paid off in the form of a large deal.
“We have closed one of the larger sale of our career, about $ 61 million,” he said. “That kept us in the game. That is someone who was not staggered and their home of $ 61 million is probably worth more than $ 90 million. So they took a risk.
“It’s just all those times that you just have to keep it and not falter.”
Politics, local housing landscape
When asked about current market dynamics, the couple was clear but optimistic.
“We had a democratic primary for the new mayor here, and there is a little hesitation within the voter and with the next potential mayor,” said Justis. “So that has put some people in a break. But beyond that year it will get better. The figures in New York City have risen around 9%.”
While interest rates remain high and the development of development is left behind, New York’s profession will continue to exist, Jovanovic said.
“People want to be in New York City because it is exciting. It is where the jobs are, it is where the energy is,” he said. “They just didn’t have enough housing. They have not yet solved the problem.”
Look forward
With two decades of experience, Paradigma Advisory continues to grow by keeping things easy – care for customers, innovate where possible and stay grounded.
“We run a small company,” said Jovanovic. “People don’t think about it that way. They think it’s just someone who shows houses. That’s not what it is. There is a lot of strategy, a lot of advice before it all happens.”
And that, they say, is the paradigm shift.
